Town of Oak Creek mostly removed from suit stemming from 2008 Taser incident

Steamboat Springs  A U.S. District Court judge dismissed most of the claims made against the town of Oak Creek by former mayor Kathy “Cargo” Rodeman in an ongoing civil case stemming from Rodeman’s controversial July 2008 arrest.

All claims against former police chief Russ Caterinicchio and all but one of the claims against the town were dismissed, leaving former Oak Creek Police Department officer Erik Foster as the main defendant.

Foster arrested Rodeman on July 19, 2008, after he said he tried to pull her over as she drove home from a bar. Rodeman and two

other women rep­­­­ortedly ran from the car into Rodeman’s house. Foster reportedly followed her into the home and used a stun gun on Rodeman as he arrested her.

When the case was filed more than a year ago in U.S. District Court, Rodeman included each of the members of the Oak Creek Town Board and other police officers working for the force at the time. The Town Board members were dismissed from the suit in September 2009, but claims against Caterinicchio and the town weren’t dismissed until last week.

Among the claims U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer dismissed were charges that the town failed to properly train and supervise officers and a civil rights complaint of improper search and seizure and excessive force. Caterinicchio also was accused of “extreme and outrageous conduct,” a civil rights complaint, and improper training and supervision.

The suit keeps one claim against the town that states that the town is responsible for the actions of its employee, Foster.

The portion of the lawsuit that remains claims “assault, battery, trespass, false imprisonment, false arrest, and outrageous conduct” by Foster.

The dismissal of the parties came just before the final pretrial conference Sept. 10. A jury trial is scheduled for April.

Also included in the pretrial conference is a list of dozens of possible witnesses, including all members of the Town Board at the time of Rodeman’s arrest, medical professionals, other law enforcement officers and eyewitnesses.

Foster and the town are represented by Colorado Springs attorney Gordon Vaughan, who was out of the office Monday and unavailable for comment. Rodeman is represented by Steamboat Springs attorney Kris Hammond, who was not available for comment Monday.

Comments

The July 27th article, in the Steamboat Today, stated that Erik's shared attorney filed for dismissal of Cargo's case. Now this attorney needs to face the fact that a U.S. District Court Judge disagrees with him. Kris Hammond knows what he is doing!

Why drag this out any longer. Reach a reasonable settlement with Cargo. It's a shame the town of Oak Creek has to be responsible for Erik's hostile actions. Employers you are responsible for the actions of your employees!